The Redskins saw their once-promising 2018 season take a nosedive when starting QB Alex Smith broke his tibia and fibia in a loss to the Texans last month. Washington lost its next two games and also saw its backup signal-caller, Colt McCoy, suffer a season-ending injury of his own. So while the Redskins are technically still alive in the NFC playoff race, they now have to find a way to qualify for the postseason with Mark Sanchez under center.
The team recently signed Josh Johnson to serve as Sanchez’s backup, but Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Redskins did discuss Colin Kaepernick before signing Johnson. Washington head coach Jay Gruden said Kaepernick was “talked about and discussed,” but the team ultimately did not reach out to him (in fact, Schefter says that no club has contacted Kaepernick to gauge his interest or arrange a workout this year).
Gruden, of course, said that the decision to not pursue Kaepernick was a purely football one. He said the Redskins would have needed to change their offense too much to accommodate Kaepernick’s skill set, and that it may have been a different story if the team needed a new QB in Week 1 rather than Week 14. He did suggest that Kaepernick, who has not played a regular season snap in nearly two years, would have been a backup to Sanchez anyway and would not have been a candidate for the starting job. Gruden said, “[w]hen you’re talking about a backup quarterback this late in the game you want someone with a similar skill set to the quarterback you have. Not that Colin can’t do some of the things we’ve talked about, but we want someone with a little more familiarity.”
Speaking of Smith, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports that the 34-year-old remains in the hospital (video link). Smith suffered an infection stemming from the above-referenced injury and had to undergo another procedure as a result. Rapoport suggests that Smith is still battling the infection, and no one has been able to definitively say that Smith will be able to play football again. At the very least, he seems highly unlikely to be ready for the start of the 2019 season, so the Redskins will need to acquire a QB either via free agency or the draft.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com explores Smith’s contract situation and the Redskins’ options with respect to that contract in excellent detail. Ultimately, he suggests that Washington may have to defer as much as much as $27.2MM to future years just to have enough money to conduct business in the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and the entire article is well-worth a read, especially for Redskins fans.
Great Rory…. Here comes a round of politics and name calling and hurt feelings.
I’m fine with all that but forgetting to serve cake is inexcusable.
Well, Rory has to talk about what the team talked about.
Just ignore the haters…..
Yeah, talk about the same thing other articles here have discussed in the past week. We needed another one because the others don’t get enough attention…SMH
Of course it was a “purely football” decision. It must be, considering Nathan Peterman is still employed.
Actually he isn’t.
Nathan a free agent. But I feel what your saying
Does Colt McCoy always instantly get hurt and out for the year when he comes in as a injury replacement? Seems like it happens all the time
As a 9ers fan I have a few reasons why I dislike Kaepeenick but I honestly find it insane that someone like Sanchez can get a job and Kaepeenick can’t even get a call or a workout. What a joke.
Why do you find it insane? Once Alex Smith went down the Redskins were done. There’s no a QB available who could save their season. So if you were the Redskins what would you do…sign the more talented person who brings a TON of baggage and would create a circus around your team, or the blah guy who no one cares about? And even if the Redskins had a chance to save their season the distractions Kaepernicke would cause, regardless of his play, would likely derail the team.
The Redskins signed a black QB, but questioned why it’s not the ‘right black QB’.
Jay Grudens explanation is correct in the Kaep thing. He’s not a traditional drop back passer. Never was. And let’s not forget Sanchez was signed to back up McCoy not b the starter because he’s a backup willing to take backup change. Not go in with the mindset that he needs starter money like Kaep reportedly asked for the year after he was let go by the 49ers. Pretty sure he would of been the backup with Seattle if he didn’t ask for crazy money to b a backup to Russ.
Also Josh Johnson was the backup in Cincy when Jay was the OC. So he is familiar with what Jays playbook looks like. Week 14 u don’t necessarily take the best guy u take the one who knows the system enough if forced into action he can atleast b competent
I will be glad when Kaepernick is out of the sports news
Why do you think he’s trying to be a social justice warrior? Because he’s trying to stay relevant ! He’s gotta do something , since he’s a terrible QB!
Spelling is so hard I b abbreviating to save on typing out the big words like be…